Ex-cop fired for Crawford slur wants job back

Perreault called Crawford a 'Monday' during Sea Dogs game

A former Massachusetts police officer fighting to get his job back after being fired for using a racial slur on a black former Boston Red Sox player will have his appeal heard by an arbitrator.

A Superior Court judge on Thursday denied the city of Leominster's request to have John Perreault's appeal decided outside of arbitration. City officials say the Civil Service Commission should handle the appeal.

The hearing is scheduled for April 9.

Leominster's mayor fired Perreault last July, a couple of weeks after the officer was accused of calling outfielder Carl Crawford a "Monday" during a rehabilitation assignment in Manchester, N.H., with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs.